NCCM urges Canadian Muslims to renew efforts to combat radicalization

(Ottawa – June 4, 2014) Following news of another Canadian man who is reported to have died abroad in a suicide attack in Iraq, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization, is calling upon Canadian Muslim communities to reinvigorate their efforts to combat radicalization towards extremist violence.

“We call upon leaders within Canadian Muslim communities to continue to combat the message of violent extremists who attempt to hijack and distort the Islamic faith by using cut-and-paste interpretations to justify their abhorrent ideology and heinous acts,” says NCCM Executive Director Ihsaan Gardee.

“Nothing can justify the taking of innocent lives. The Islamic faith is unequivocal in its condemnation of violent extremism and terrorism in all their forms,” adds Gardee.

“While Canadian Muslim communities should not be expected to do the job of security agencies, it is vital to promote the understanding that the rights of citizenship in our diverse country go hand-in-hand with responsibilities. It is a criminal act to leave Canada to join a terrorist group and to commit crimes abroad and it is our religious and moral duty to notify the authorities if we are aware of someone planning to do so. Further, our communities need to openly discuss misunderstood concepts such as jihad in order to demystify and deglamorize the message of those who would prey upon our youth and most vulnerable,” says Gardee.

The NCCM calls on Canadians with information about the promotion of violent extremism to contact their local authorities.

The NCCM is an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit Canadian organization working for 14 years as a leading voice for Muslim civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.